‘State threats’, security, and democracy: the National Security Act 2023

Scott, P. F. (2023) ‘State threats’, security, and democracy: the National Security Act 2023. Legal Studies, (doi: 10.1017/lst.2023.39) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

The National Security Act 2023 replaces the Official Secrets Acts 1911, 1920 and 1939, updating, rationalising, and expanding the various offences which they contained and introducing new rules aimed at the same broad end of countering the threat posed to the UK by the efforts of hostile states and their proxies. It therefore represents a legislative confirmation of the ongoing pivot back to ‘state threats’ rather than terrorism as the focus of the national security enterprise in the UK, though now informed by the experience of counter-terrorism law since 2000. This paper assesses the main changes made by the 2023 Act, including in the context of threats to the democratic process, actual and potential, which have been identified in recent years. The argument offered is that the focus of the 2023 Act – encompassing threats to democracy only where they rise to the level of threats to national security – is undermined by the absence of a more thoroughgoing project to protect the democratic process more generally against foreign interference.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Scott, Mr Paul
• Authors: Scott, P. F.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Journal Name: Legal Studies
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISSN: 0261-3875
• ISSN (Online): 1748-121X
• Published Online: 12 December 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Author
• First Published: First published in Legal Studies 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence